Havering Country Park, Havering Atte Bower - Park Improvements (008218)

Havering Country Park is a 165 acre park formed of woodland and conservation grassland fields. The Park is one of the largest in Havering and has been featured on BBC news due to the avenue of Wellingtonia trees, which were planted when the park was part of a Royal estate. The park is extremely popular with ramblers, dog walkers and those with nature interests. The Park also homes several Public Rights of Way and Horse rides. These are very popular and give people a taste of the countryside within an urban environment. Despite its popularity, investment in the park has been limited to small scale improvements. This project would address; path quality, woodland management, fencing reinstatement, woodland ride restoration and future management objectives. This project will aim to improve the user experience in the park and quality of the site to improve biodiversity and ecology. In addition, a segment of the funding will be allocated for production of a woodland management plan. No signficant woodland management has been done within the park for many years. Biodiversity, woodland structure and access have therefore been negatively impacted. By resuming woodland management the quality of the forest will improve, this will be beneficial for users, improving their experience and access to and around the woodland, and will also beneficial to the ecology of the forest, improving structure, providing habitat and maintaining our most valuable trees. Producing a woodland management plan as part of this project will tie the Council to a management regime for the woods for several years, and will allow for financial contribution of management through future grants. Fencing and pathway improvements are severely needed, with long stretches of fencing rotting away and becoming dangerous and pathways being becoming waterlogged or eroded by running water. Improving both these features will make the woodland more accessible; allowing visitors to explore and connect with nature